In recent decades, assembly poll outcomes in Kerala could be predicted without the slightest of doubts: It has been Left, Right, Left and so on. In the last two assembly polls in the state, the traditional coalition foes — the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Democratic Front — have emerged victorious with thumping margins.
In 2001, the UDF romped home with 100 of the 140 seats and formed a ministry with A.K. Antony (who is now the federal defence minister) at the helm. In 2006 the LDF achieved that same margin, and formed a ministry with V.S. Achuthanandan as chief minister.
Projects laughed at
In 2001 the UDF had the development platform for its electoral campaign, and aroused voters with issues that included a focus on the IT sector and infrastructure development. During the course of the UDF ministry that ruled from 2001 to 2006 (which witnessed AK Antony being replaced by Oommen Chandy mid-course), other points came to the fore, including an Express Highway, and the SmartCity project.
By 2006, such infrastructure projects were being mocked at and the Left parties were campaigning that the SmartCity project was little more than a real estate deal, that the five-year term of the UDF had been a rule of money power, and that the liberalisation and privatisation policies bandied about by the UDF were hurting the common man.
As another assembly poll comes around, the differences are an apparent lack of latent issues and an uncertainty about who will come to power.
Real issues have been so low-profile in the state this time, that neither front seems to be able to even raise any single issue as a rallying point. And surprisingly, both coalitions have caught on to the freebie bandwagon, quite uncharacteristically, and plan to offer rice at Rs2 per kg or Rs1 per kg, depending on which coalition is voted to power.
Instead, the most discussed issues are sex scandals, court cases of select individuals and even fault lines within parties and coalitions.
For the Left, chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan has emerged the star campaigner without a doubt, making yet another phoenix-like rising after being sidelined during the seat allocation exercise.
Achuthanandan began the campaigning for the Left from the Malabar region, and had massive crowds thronging to hear him when he reached Kannur, Kozhikode, and his constituency, Malampuzha.
Bid to expose CM
The 87-year-old CPM veteran, who was initially dropped apparently because of his age, has rebounded strongly, and is hitting the opposition with two of his favourite topics — pursuing corruption cases, and sex scandals.
The Opposition is trying to expose the CM's claims, stating that he has hardly lived up to his promise to have sex case culprits hand-cuffed and marched on the road. To that challenge, the CM's response is, "Just you wait", with the reminder that the Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai is at the Poojappura prison in the Idamalayar case.
The UDF, on the other hand, is counting on two factors, namely the anti-incumbency factor that should work to its benefit, and the fact that there has been a desertion of parties from the Left ranks to the UDF coalition. These include the Kerala Congress (J) party which merged with the Kerala Congress (M) in the UDF camp, and the Socialist Janata Democratic Party of MP Veerendra Kumar.
In recent days, the LDF suffered more embarrassment when Students Federation of India former state president Sindhu Joy threw her weight behind the UDF and decided to campaign for Oommen Chandy, against whom she had contested in 2006, and Left-backed independent MLA Alphons Kannanthanam joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
One big factor in any election in Kerala is the church, and this time it appears to be leaning towards the UDF. Sensing the situation, Left leaders have been meeting up with Church leaders, but Sindhu Joy's defection has been a big blow for the Left in this regard.
BJP upbeat on polls
Whether or not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get a seat or not has been a question that crops up every time an election comes round in Kerala. This time it is no different, and the party is hoping as always that it will change history this time.
Giving the campaign its all, the BJP has brought in senior leaders to the state this time, including Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj. Swaraj said she believed the anti-incumbency factor was strong in Kerala and that the range of graft allegations against the United Progressive Alliance in Delhi would reflect in a better performance for BJP in Kerala this time.
She feels the BJP will not only open its account in the Kerala assembly this time, but would score a "considerable" victory. BJP senior leaders P.K. Krishnadas and O. Rajagopal are contesting respectively in the Kattakada and Nemom constituencies.
The BJP is also enthused by the fact that one of the pre-poll surveys predicted two seats for the party this time. In another surprise development, Kanjirappally MLA Alphons Kannanthanam, who was a CPM-supported independent, switched over to the BJP.
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